Video released of Concord Police officer shooting, killing man at car dealership
Police body camera footage released Thursday shows a Concord police officer shooting an unarmed man multiple times as he attempted to drive away in a police SUV.
Brandon Combs, 29, of Gastonia, was shot at least five times by Concord Police Department officer Timothy Larson in February. Larson was fired by the department in May, cited by the police chief for insubordination, refusing to answer questions following the shooting, and for giving misleading or untrue answers in other instances to his superiors and the State Bureau of Investigation, which handled the shooting investigation. It’s unclear from the termination letter if the events surrounding the shooting were discussed, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Combs’ mother is suing Larson and the city of Concord in federal court on claims of excessive force, assault and battery, wrongful and intentional death and gross negligence.
Cabarrus County District Attorney Roxann Vaneekhoven said Larson will not face criminal charges and was legally justified in shooting Combs. The DA’s decision cited Combs ignoring Larson’s commands, that there was a police assault rifle in the police SUV within Combs’ reach, and that Combs revved the SUV causing Larson to possibly fear being run over.
The two-minute video released Thursday shows Larson approaching a silver truck in the parking lot of a Nissan dealership. Previously, Concord Police officials have said the officer went to the dealership to investigate a possible auto theft.
Larson arrives to find Combs has the door open. He says to the officer “Take your gun off,” as Larson walks up with a flashlight and asks what is going on.
He then tries to get Combs to step out of the truck and Combs refuses, the video shows. Larson opens the driver’s side door of the truck, then backs away and points his gun at Combs yelling at him to “get out of the car.”
Larson calls for backup, Combs shuts the door and the two open and close the door for several seconds.
“Get out of the f------ car! Show me your f------ hands! Get down on the f------ ground!” Larson yells.
Larson briefly took cover behind a white van before continuing to yell commands at Combs.
Combs runs from the truck towards the police SUV and gets inside. Larson chases after.
The video, from Larson’s body-worn camera, shows him standing near the SUV with Combs behind the wheel. The officer’s position — whether in the path of the vehicle or not — is a major factor in the family’s lawsuit against Concord Police, saying Larson’s use of deadly force was unjustified because he was not in danger of being run over.
The video shows Larson approach Combs in the police SUV directly in front but at a distance, with Larson positioning himself to the passenger side of the front of the SUV as he gets closer. What the district attorney described as the rev of the SUV engine is heard nearly instantaneously to the first shot.
Larson fires five shots before calling in “shots fired” on his radio and shooting once more at Combs.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 5:01 PM.
